Reading the News Paper: An old habit comes back to life!

As I kid, reading the newspaper was an activity that I thoroughly enjoyed every Sunday afternoon. During the weekdays, I had school but some how I would manage to skim through the paper in the evening. Just reading the headlines, cartoons, a little bit of jumble and crossword, some sports and the horoscope meant I had done my reading for the day. Sunday afternoon was albeit a whole another experience. I have always been a late night person so early morning (for me) at 6:30 I would hear my dad and mom as they headed out the back door to the verandah/patio to start reading the papers while sipping mugs full of glorious Darjeeling tea. An hour later, my sister would join them and reading, chatting and tea sessions would continue till about 8:30 or 9, which is when I would finally get out of bed. This is also when mom would strategically get up to start cooking breakfast, the maid would arrive and start doing the dishes, the milk man would deliver milk packets to our doorstep and dad would head to the bathroom.

Cool! Now I was free to harass and fight with my sister over the newspaper section or the remote control for the TV. Yohoo! Sunday morning had amazing cartoon and kids shows. Now while I wanted to watch He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, she wanted to watch some fluffy show about mischieveous teenagers living in a boarding school. At the same time, dad after finishing his daily prayer would now seat himself at the dining table and pitch for NEWS (Why do Dads always want to see News of some sort, is it to prove they are older and serious people?). Mom would walk in with the breakfast tray and she would have her own draw but somehow we would all compromise and watch one great show while enjoying Mom's great food! When I was a teenager, I thought all Moms are great cooks and did not appreciate my Mom's culinary skills enough. Today I am humbled by her consistent performance as our chief chef of the house. Her quality and persistence easily match Rahul Dravid, the epitome of consistency in the Indian subcontinent. To get back on track, the only TV shows that we would always agree on as a family without arguing were a live cricket match or the Bournvita Quiz contest.

Further along the day, after throwing 10 tantrums regarding taking a shower, I would enjoy a hearty lunch with my family. This was followed by a Sunday late afternoon siesta for all except me. 2 to 5 in the afternoon were my hours of relaxing while devouring the weekend addition of the Times of India or the Indian Express. This was just awesome. The entire paper to myself, I would read it page by page not leaving a single word or image.

This very personal regimen of spending a Sunday ravising the newspaper was completely stiffled and killed at college where the newspaper freely accessible at my dorm was really bad. Some Sundays I would borrow a friend's personally subscribed Times of India and read it just like old times. Effectively, I have been unable to resume my old habit since 1997. A cool 9 years later, I am backing to reading my old friend - the newspaper every day all thanks to my new roommate who subscribed us to the San Jose Mercury News. I was a teenager then, now an adult; the country and papers are different but its still as much fun as a decade ago. Reading is one of the best habits I have and for that I have to thank my awesome parents! Another set of kudos goes to the newspaper companies for finding innovative business models to keep their papers running despite the ubiquitious presence of free news services online.

Here some very interesting columns from today's San Jose Mercury News:


I loved it. Kinsley is as cynical as it gets! If you don't know the history of US and its politics in the Islamic world this piece gives you an excellent summary of the history as well.
Hey, gang! Now let's go help the Iranians! - By Michael Kinsley

A total contrast to Kinsley's crticisms, this one is full of ideas and optimism and has some great lines on the middle class and its importance in a society.
Saving the middle class requires long-overdue investments - By Don Perata

This is a contemporary article. Makes interesting reading for most of my friends and peers from Generation MTV. Long distance relationships (LDRs) are a reality and we might as well acclimitize ourselves.
Six ways to help make a long-distance relationship work

And finally to top it all of, the frontpage for Life & Style section of the paper talks about Sikhism, one of the youngest religions in the world which originated in Punjab, India and how Sikhs in the Bay Area celebrated their Spring festival "Baisakhi" at the Gurudwara (temple) in Fremont this weekend as Christians celebrated Easter.
Sikhs celebrate renewal of faith - By Kimra McPherson

Happy Baisakhi to All!